Friel touts "youth and enthusiasm" in his council bid

For Ryan Friel, being a City Council member isn't about the amount of experience or previous community involvement.

It's about the eagerness and will to serve.

And that's what Friel, 36, said he would bring to the Whitefish City Council if elected during the upcoming mail-in ballot election.

Friel, a fishing guide and one of several editors of a local literary journal, said his inexperience should not be viewed as a shortcoming but as a favorable quality.

"I think it's a positive," he said. "I can bring youth and enthusiasm to a community that thrives on youth and enthusiasm."

Friel, who grew up outside of Boston, said the idea of running for a council seat came to him when he realized that after 12 years of living in Whitefish, the town was likely his permanent home.

"I thought if I wanted to be an active and involved member of the community, then I should probably run," he said.

Friel said he believes growth is the most pertinent issue facing the expanding resort city.

"Growth is a many-tentacle octopus," he said. "It affects everything. "

The key, he said, is to find a way to properly balance rapid growth with the integrity of Whitefish as a community.

On the issue of the two-mile planning "doughnut" area around the Whitefish city limits (where the city has a hand in regulating development), Friel said the decision should be left up to individual landowners whether they want to be regulated by the city or the county, even if that results in a "spotted" planning jurisdiction.

Another contentious issue facing the council is the proposed critical areas ordinance, a set of development regulations aimed at protecting the water quality in and around Whitefish.

The ordinance has polarized residents into two camps - those for water quality preservation and those supporting personal property rights.

Friel suggests the critical areas ordinance should be regularly reviewed by the public to get closer to consensus.

"Everyone agrees that water quality needs to be preserved, but there must a balance between the two sides," he said.

The best way to get there is to continue to review until a majority of people are comfortable with the regulations, Friel said.

He believes more public involvement would be helpful when it comes to funding projects for the city.

Whitefish has a number of capital improvement projects planned over the next several years to keep pace with growth.

"While the public views the expenses as excessive, few people have actually looked at each item in the budget," he said. "But with the amount of growth in Whitefish, those capital improvements are absolutely necessary. I think it would be great to put those kind of budget items before the voters on a ballot."

One improvement Friel believes Whitefish needs to make is an update to the traffic system. He considers the intersection of Wisconsin and U.S. 93 (Second Street) as one of the problem areas.

"It's clear we need a better traffic scheme," Friel said. "We need to keep up the work with the downtown master plan.

"I want to make changes to things that need work, but I really just want to keep the good things good," he said.

Reporter Amy May can be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at amay@dailyinterlake.com